Toy pistol



P. WEINHOLT.

TOY PISTOL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20. |919.

l ,3 1 1 ,934: Patented Aug. 5, 1.919.

ffy-i if. 135g /l i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL WEINHOLT, 0F ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO OSCAR GEORGE KOSTEDT, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

TOY PISTOL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 5, 1919.

To all whom t may concern.'

Beit known that I, PAUL lVniNiIoL'r, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Toy Pistols, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to toy guns and -more particularly to a pistol structure. It

has for its objects to produce a novel construction which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, which is eflieient and durable, and which may be made to simulate a regular Iirearm; and to attaincertain advantages as will hereinafter more fully appear.

The invention consists in the parts and .in the combinations and arrangements of parts as set forth in the following description and afterward pointed out with partieularity in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating a practical embodiment of the invention,

F igure-1 is a view of a toy pistol :in side elevation;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section thereof with the plunger in retracted position;

Fig. 3 is a similar view with the plunger projected;

Fig. 4 is a cross section taken on or about the line 4-4 of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is a cross section taken on or about the line 5-5 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a detail View of the spring member detached and in relaxed condition.

Referring now to the drawing, the strueture therein shown comprises a barrel 1, the breech portion 2 of which is tubular and cylindrical, while the forward portion 3 is trough-like or substantially U-shape in cross section (sce Figs. 4 and 5). The handle portion 4 is hollow and flattened to a thickness less than the diameter of the barrel.

Fitted slidably in the barrel 1 is a plunger 5. Preferably, this plunger comprises a hollow cylinder which is closed at its outer end, as at 6, so as to bear against a projectile, which latter may obviously be a ball 7, as shown in Fig. 2, or a stick, dart, or other suitable object capable of being placed in and movable freely through the barrel or channel 3.

Located in the handle portion 4 is a spring member 8 which is preferablycoiled intermediate its ends, as at 9. One leg, 10, of the spring member is engaged in an aperture 11 in the under side of the plunger 5 near thc rear end thereof, and the' end portion 12 of this leg which projects into the plunger is preferably curved forwardly as shown.

The opposite leg 13 of the spring member 1s curved, as at 14, so as to seat against the crotched portion l5 of the rear `wall of the handle 4, thence rebent and extended straightwisc, as at 16, and then again rebent to form a projection or hook 17 to engage in a slot or other suitable apertui'e 18 in the under part of the plunger 5 near the outer end thereof. From this hook portion 17 the wire is extended straightwise, as at 19, and rebent upon itself, as at 20, to constitute a trigger.

The trigger is projected through a restricted opening or slot 21 which is provided by eliminating a part of the bottom wall between thc barrel and handle and depressing the adjacent side walls, as at 22, so as to afford a lateral support and guide for the trigger and hook portion, but with sufficient clearance between to permit an easy up and down movement of the wire to effect the engagement and release of the hookand the plunger 5. l

The normal set or relaxed shape of the spring member when detached from the pistol is shown in Fig. (l. In this normal or relaxed condition the entire two legs'lO and 13 are spread apart and the portion 16 of the leg 13 is set at an obtuse angle to the base portion thereof. Therefore, when the spring member is assembled in the pistol, as shown in Fig. 2, under tension, the tendency of the spring is to assume its normal form, so that the leg 10 is constantly acting to press the plunger forward, while the leg 13 is bearing against the rear wall of the handle portion 4 and the portion 1G of the spring member is pressing toward the under side of the plunger so as to engage the hook 17 with the plunger.

When it is desired to project the plunger, the trigger is pulled to disengage the hook 17 therefrom, whereupon the leg 10 of the spring member moves suddenly forward, carrying the plunger with it, until it is a1'- rested by the front wall of the handle portion 4. l/Vhen thus arrested the leg 10 limits the outward travel of the plunger and thereby serves the dual function of motive element and stop. The stopping of the plunger is not brought about abruptly, but

there is a slight over-travel and rebound to the position of rest, due to the momentum and resiliency of the leg 10. This l"serves as a cushion to some extent, and to 'effectively whip the projectile from the barrel or channel 3.

To reset the parts for another actuation of tlie plunger it is only necessary'to insert the finger in the channel 3 and press the plunger back until the hook 17 lsnaps into the aperture 18 thereof. i

The-body of' the pistol may be convenientlyand ineXA ensively constructed of tin or yother suita le, sheet material inj diepress'ed and formed blanks, either single or in plurality, the ,meeting Vedges of which may be seamed by folding or otherwiset securingthem together. This is the preferable kind of structure, but it may be made ofcast'me'tal, as is obvious.`

Thefdevice admits of considerable modifi.- cation without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by ,'theyappended claims. Therefore, -it is not limited to the Yspecific construction shown inthe drawing.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toy pistol, a barrel in which is housed a plunger, the forward portion of the barrel being channeled' from the region of the outer end `portion of said ,plunger in its retracted position to the outer end of the barrel. n 2; In avtoy pistol, a barrel, the inner'portion of which is tubular and the outer portion of whichis channeled, a spring-pressed plunger in saidbarrel, the spring for actuating said plunger serving as a stop therefor, and having nan extension formed to afford a catch to hold the .plunger retracted, thel eXtreme end portion of said extension constituting a` trigger., Y Y

3. In atoy pistol, a barrel and communieating hollow handle eiitension, a plunger in said barrel, and a single-piece spring having oppositely-acting legs, oneofsaid legs :en-

`gaging said plunger to press it forward and being engageable with a forward part of said handle extension to afford a stop for said plunger when actuated thereby, the

other leg being engageable with la rear part of Y said handle extension and a portion thereof 'being formed to afford a catch to engage and hold said plunger in retractedV Asaid plunger and acting to drive the plunger forward and being engageable with the aord a stop formsaidplunger when actuated, the other leg having a portion in engagement with the rear part of said handle extension, another portionV extended lengthforward part of said handle extension to i wise and in proximity to the under side of said plunger, with a catch portion to engage in the aperture at the front of said plunger, the eXtreme end portion of said leg constituting a trigger Vand projecting through a slot between the bottom of'the barrel and lsaid handle extension, the adjacent side walls being depressed in .proximity to and vaffording a guide for said catchportion and trigger .portion of the spring.

Signed at St. Louis, Missouri, .this 8th day'of March, *1919.4 g., Y

PAUL WEINI-IOLT.

.Copies of this patent may beobtaineddforfve cents each, by addressing the vC.omm'issflorieri of Patents,

Washington, D. C. y 

